House Conservative Ken Buck Tells MSNBC Trump Indictments Are a ‘Really Difficult Distraction’: Many Republicans ‘Want to Move On’
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus, called former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles a “really difficult distraction” on MSNBC Tuesday.
Reacting to a clip of former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) arguing that Trump’s indictment by a grand jury in the Peach State on Monday presented an opportunity for the GOP to rebrand itself, Buck concurred that “what Republicans need to do if we’re gonna win the White House in November of 2024 is to talk about the issues that Americans care about and try to get away from the Trump indictments and the really scandalous nature of the accusations surrounding this president.”
“We need to talk about the border, we need to talk about inflation, we need to talk about crime in the streets,” added Buck. “Those are issues that Republicans are strong on and need to run on. So this is a really difficult distraction to try to win the White House, and especially when the leading candidate is the subject of these indictments.”
“I’m curious, though: Is that what you hear from your constituents?” asked Chris Jansing.
“You know, my constituents are split right now. We have a lot of Donald Trump supporters in Colorado, and they are adamant that this president is being treated unfairly. We’ve got a lot of other Republicans who want to move on, who are concerned about how Joe Biden is running the country and they want to see a change. And so really, I see a divided party at this point,” observed Buck.
Buck, a former district attorney, has been far less defensive of the former president than most other stalwart conservatives.
After Trump’s indictment for federal charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents in June, Buck told CNN’s Dana Bash that the allegations against Trump were “very serious.”
“I would not feel comfortable with a convicted felon in the White House so we’ll see how the case plays out and we’ll see how the evidence is presented and what the defenses are,” said Buck at the time.
Watch above via MSNBC.
